In spring of 2012, the James Beard Foundation will publish The James Beard Foundation’s Best of the Best: A 25th Anniversary Celebration of America’s Outstanding Chefs. This must-have cookbook will feature a delicious, signature recipe from every winner of the Foundation’s Outstanding Chef Award, from Wolfgang Puck to Tom Colicchio. When we went to press, space required that we omit some surplus essays and recipes. During the weeks leading up to the book’s release, we’ll be sharing this bonus content with our readers. Think of it as an appetizer. This week we're sharing a simple but sublime scallop recipe from Mario Batali, who won the JBF Outstanding Chef Award in 2005.

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This light and zesty scallopdish from JBF Award winner Mario Batali is a cinch to assemble, but don't take any shortcuts with the ingredients: use the freshest scallops you can find and seek out plump, unblemished citrus fruit, which is peaking on the West Coast right now. For the final flourish, the scallops are splashed with olio nuovo, a syrupy, intensely flavored olive oil that's produced from the very first olive pressing. If you can't get your hands on a bottle, use a high quality extra virgin olive oil.